Israel flatly denied today Egyptian allegations that Israeli planes tried yesterday to penetrate Egyptian air space. The Israeli spokesman also denied again that one of the craft was downed after the planes were fired on with four Soviet-made surface-to-air (SAM) missiles over the eastern bank of the Suez Canal. None of the planes was even hit. and all were well east of the canal, he said. This was the first such Incident since July 24. The waterway was quiet this morning.
On the Syrian border, however, sporadic terrorist activity continued. The detonation of an explosive charge on a dirt path of the Golan Heights yesterday appeared to be the result of Syrian tolerance of limited terrorism from the borderline. Such acts are believed unlikely to precipitate massive Israeli retaliation.
But there were signs that terrorist concentrations are increasing in the administered territories. Sources noted that following the Munich massacre of 11 Israelis there was a rise in the number of Arabs Joining the terrorist groups.
This rise coincided with the summer-visit program, under cover of which several terrorist organizers penetrated the security screening. These elements were active in setting up new terrorist cells in the administered areas. Some of the cells have been smashed, but an explosive went off yesterday at the Hebron cemetery, damaging some tombstones and a nearby house.
Israeli security circles do not exclude the possibility of increased terrorism in the administered areas after the conclusion of this summer’s visiting program. But the circles quote Defense Minister Moshe Dayan as stressing the Importance of the visits by Arabs In getting Jews and Arabs to know each other better despite the risk of infiltration.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
